Isabel Healthcare Blog

Results of a recent survey published in the journal Neurology Genetics, on patients with mitochondrial disease, have stated that genetics identify the ‘diagnostic odyssey’ experienced. Diagnostic odyssey is defined as the time taken between a patient first developing symptoms and receiving a correct medical diagnosis. 210 patients participated in the survey, all of whom had physician diagnoses of mitochondrial disease and were recruited through the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.  The results were alarming:

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) has been in the news a lot recently for different reasons. The American actress, Roseanne Barr recently announced that after 2 years preparing herself for a life with severely impaired vision following a diagnosis of AMD, a second opinion from a different doctor has revealed a more positive diagnosis: her so called ‘blindness’ was actually caused by a mole growing on the inside of her eye which, given time, could be removed. And in another similar story and an even more positive note, an 86 year old patient who had all but lost sight in one eye due to AMD, has now recovered his sight again, following pioneering stem cell therapy at London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Every year we like to highlight the World Health Organization (WHO) World Health Day, and this year is no different. We’ve written on many subjects from food poisoning to diabetes to mental health. This year, WHO have decided to focus on Universal Healthcare (UHC), a subject which has been the driving mission behind WHO since its conception in 1948. Their “Health for All” campaign encompasses not only ensuring quality healthcare is available for everyone around the globe, but also the services and attitudes towards our healthcare systems, in order to make them as efficient as possible.

This week is World Autism Awareness week, with countries around the globe learning about and discussing this neurological spectrum condition. Autism was first researched and considered in the 1940s by the pioneers Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner, although it would be another 40 years before this work would be translated and published, and research could gain momentum. Even by the 1980s, however, there was still a lot to learn about the condition, with many people confusing definitions of autism with those of psychosis or other mental and physical illnesses.

The ECRI Institute (formerly the Emergency Care Research Institute), has announced diagnostic errors as the top concern within its 2018 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations report. ECRI Institute is an independent non-profit organization which dedicates itself to applying scientific research to discover which medical processes, devices, procedures and drugs are best and improve patient care. The ECRI Institute serves 5,000 members and clients include hospitals, health systems, public and private payers, U.S. federal and state government agencies, health clinics, patients, policymakers and ministries of health.

A recent article in the UK ‘Times’ newspaper has highlighted shocking statistics relating to the diagnosis of endometriosis, a common condition affecting girls and women of childbearing age. As many as 10% of women around the world have endometriosis, meaning 176 million people worldwide are suffering with the condition. Despite these numbers, the average sufferer has to wait over seven years, often enduring constant pain and repeated miscarriages, among other symptoms, before finally receiving a diagnosis. Caroline Overton, a senior consultant at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, has called for more teaching and awareness on the condition, stating that “more must be done to recognise and understand the symptoms and to encourage women to voice concerns about their health.”

March is National Brain Injury Awareness Month in the US, led by the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA). A brain injury is quite literally any injury to the brain, and so is a very wide subject encompassing many different injuries. From sports injuries and traffic accidents to strokes and damage from drug abuse, a brain injury affects up to 1.5 million Americans every year, and those are just the ones that report to the emergency room or doctor. This year BIAA are focusing on breaking down stigmas and misconceptions surrounding brain injuries and the disabilities resulting from them. They are using the hashtag #changeyourmind to help spread awareness, and we’ll talk more about what you can do once we’ve done our bit. We thought we would go over the basic information, terminology and of course symptoms of brain injuries, to help educate everyone this National Brain Injury Awareness Month.

At Isabel we have blogged about, talked about and even researched the ideas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare extensively, so the concept that technology has a place in the world of healthcare is not new to us. Indeed, Isabel itself is considered to be AI, as its complex algorithms and deep learning system allow it to learn new clinical features as people use it, meaning it can cover an almost infinite number of signs and symptoms and match them to over 10,000 diagnoses. This week Apple have announced that they will be bringing their employee healthcare in-house, with what they are saying will be a “unique concierge-like healthcare experience” that is “enabled by technology.” As what many would call the leaders in technology advancement today, it is exciting to think what Apple healthcare may look like, and how these two worlds may collide.

In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that measles was at an all time low across Europe, with only 5,273 cases being recorded, and 547 of these being in the UK. In 2015, the UK only had 91 cases confirmed, and this meant the country achieved the WHO elimination status, which dictates that the number of cases reported  has been low enough to stop the disease circulating around the UK. Unfortunately, these figures have now risen for 2017 within Europe to over 20,000 of which the UK accounted for 282 cases.

With reports coming in about the excessively cold temperatures at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, thoughts turn to the discomfort of having cold fingers and toes. But imagine suffering this discomfort all year round, so much so it makes simple, everyday tasks like buttoning up a shirt very difficult. This is what some sufferers of Raynaud’s Disease experience on a regular basis. February is Raynaud’s awareness month in the UK and campaigns are working hard to increase awareness of this condition, also known as Raynaud’s Phenomenon or Syndrome, which afflicts around 10% of the adult population, with 4/5 sufferers being women.